Fantasy
by Coopland
Summary: The Doctor faces an enemy that isn't what it seems while trying to relax on Gaia and Squall Leonheart recieves a mission from the President of Esthar, his father. Chapter 3 minor edit. Alternate Ending now available. Story Finished.
1. Fantasy

Doctor Eddin Krayner was running late for his appointment with the President, he'd heard that the man was a pretty laid back guy, so if he was a little late hopefully the President wouldn't be too mad. He'd also heard that President Loire was basically useless without his two aids, but he wasn't even going to mention that. After all he didn't want to hack off the President of Esthar.

It has taken some string pulling, calling in of favors and the likes but he'd finally been able to arrange a meeting, he had to go straight to the top because the company was so powerful only a world leader would have enough power to pull the plug on them, and the plug definitely needed pulling.

Stepping until the elevator he slid they level 1 visitors key card into the slot which would allow him access to the President's Office and tried to wipe his clammy hands on his lab coat without dropping the files, which lead to them scattering over the floor.

Dropping to his knees and scurrying to pick the sheets up, Krayner's hand stopped over a sheet of paper that was labeled, "Confidential: Advanced Nano Research."

As his eyes read the sheet over, hoping to find some proof he was wrong the elevator stopped and the emergency lights came on. Suddenly from behind Krayner heard a scurrying sound behind him and turned around.

Screaming at the sight before him, Krayner was silenced, whatever had attacked him left and all that remained in the elevator was the visitor pass. No files, no clothes, no Krayner.

Part 1: Fantasy

It was hustle and bustle as usual in Esthar's shopping district, people flooded the streets in an unorganized mess, it was noises as you'd expect a crowded place to be but just above the sound of daily life a new, out of place sound could be heard. It was like a whirring, grinding sound, steadily getting louder and louder and originating from an unfinished part of the new shopping district expansion, the only thing aside from the noise that was out of place was a blue light that came from nowhere and kept fading in and out of view in a steady rhythm. Eventually a wooden box with the words "Police Public Call Box" displayed at the top on all four sides appeared. Out of the box stepped a tall thin man in a brown pinstripe suit and a long brown jacket.

He was followed by a girl in a red jacket and jeans, with a hair style the man had only been able to describe as "pineapple-like."

"We're in a construction site," The girl told the man, she sounded throughly unimpressed,

"Well I can't park out in the open can I?" He replied, walking towards the busy main street.

"Well where are we?" The girl asked, excitement evident in her tone.

"This is the planet Gaia," The man told her, "and we, Martha Jones, are in the Capital City of Esthar on the Esthar continent."

"Hold up, Doctor. I've heard that word before, 'Gaia'" Martha said, "That's like... earth mythology isn't it? Spirit of the Earth, yeah?"

"Martha the universe is _filled_ with literally thousands upon thousands of intelligent species, it's a little arrogant to expect yours to be the only one to come up with the word Gaia." the Doctor suddenly grinned, "Come on, let's go have a look around!"

"Alright! Thanks for letting me come on this mission with you Squally!" Cried Selphie cheerfully, pumping a fist into the air.

Squall waved at the cheerful girl dismissively, but couldn't help but smile a little. Whilst Squall was still a man of few words he'd opened somewhat and could at least pull more facial expressions then the default "frown".

"So 'Commander Squally', are you going to brief us on our mission?" Selphie asked, as she sat down, stretching her arms above her head.

"You know why we're going to Esthar," Squall replied, "President Loire... Laguna..."

Squall took a deep breath and tried again, "My _father_, has reported several members of his staff missing and yesterday a research from the Drawtech corp who was supposed to meet with him never turned up. All these people were investigating the rumor that Drawtech is conducting illegal experiments, now none of them can be found anywhere. Hey are you listening?"

Somewhere during Squall's speech Selphie had started staring out of the window of the train that was going to taking them from Fisherman's Horizon to Esthar, there was nothing but clear blue skys and calm blue ocean to be seen. Selphie's eyes snapped back to Squall and she blushed a little.

"Oh! I heard you. Sorry Squall, but the view is sooooo amazing!"

Squall sighed and rubbed his forehead then, lay down on the bed. They'd be there in about an hour and there was no point in going back to sleep, but at least the beds were more comfy then the chairs were.

"So... what are you going to say to your dad?" Asked Selphie,

"Well I'm going to ask for a list of the people who've gone missing, all the data they'd uncovered before vanishing..."

Selphie sighed and shuck her head,

"No not about the mission, about the _two of you_. I mean you guys said you'd talk more right?"

"Selphie, we're on a mission!" Squall protested,

"Doesn't mean you can't spend some quality time with your dad!" Retorted Selphie sticking her tongue out.

"Yes it does!" replied Squall exasperated,

"Doesn't!" Said Selphie with a huff as she folded her arms.

Something told Squall this next hour would take a long, long time to pass.

"Esthar is the most advanced civilization on the planet," Explained The Doctor, "Few years ago, there was this sort of Queen... the people of this planet called her a Sorceress. She basically declared war on the rest of the world, then she was over thrown by one man, who's the current President... of course there were all kinds of political problems, the nation of Galbadia had become power hungry and started expanding so they recruited a "sorceress" as their ambassador as a scare tactic, what they didn't know was she wanted that kind of power in order to kill Galbadia's leader and take over."

Martha look at the Doctor quizzically, whatever he had started out saying had been lost as he began explaining the history of Gaia.

"Anyway this all eventually lead to a time war, were a private army called SeeD ended up defeating this sorceress from the future who was possessing someone in the present in order to compress time so she could be the only living thing and recreate the universe in her own image. But like I said SeeD defeated her and got sent into their own past, where they implanted the idea of SeeD into it's founder's mind and created a Paradox, which really the Time Lords should of prevented but we were a little busy with the Daleks at the time..."

The Doctor stopped walking a moment, puzzled,

"Sorry, I forgot where I was going with that." He told Martha, who laughed lightly and shook her head somewhat.

"Oooh look, a train station! I love trains!" The Doctor said giddily,

"You've got the TARDIS, a machine that can travel through time and space..." Martha said cautiously, "you can go anywhere and anywhen, and you like _trains?_"

The Doctor looked at her a somewhat wounded look on his face.

"What's wrong with trains?" He asked

"You are such a kid!" Martha replied pushing him lightly, The Doctor just grinned and began walking towards the train station

Laguna stood at the train station looking through the crowd of passengers that were clambering off the train for his son and the other SeeD agent, he didn't know which one Squall said he was bringing with him. Laguna had decided he need to try and look as important as his position claimed he was, so he'd dressed up, suit and tie. The works, he'd even had a briefcase with him and had tied his hair back in a pony tail. Kiros had suggested that he get it cut, but there was no way he'd do that.

"..." Ward told Laguna profoundly,

"Ward is right," Agreed Kiros, "Squall's not mad at you, so there's no need to be nervous. He's just a little... stoic. Hard to believe you're related at all, really."

"What do you mean by that?" Laguna replied grumpily, he turned his head away from the train briefly and saw a man and a woman dressed in strange clothes enter the station, before Kiros calling to Squall and his team mate who was apparently, Selphie, brought him back to reality.

"Hi Sir Laguna, Sir Kiros, Sir Ward!" Selphie said cheerifully as she bounced to a stop in front of them.

"Hello, Miss Tilmitt," Said Kiros, "Come on, Ward and I will brief you while Squall talks with 'the President'."

"But Ward can't tal..." Laguna tried to object, whilst Squall rubbed his forehead in frustration.

"Sorry can't hear you!" Selphie replied, "The briefing is really loud!"

Squall and Laguna watched as the three disappeared to outside the train station.

"I hate those two sometimes," Laguna said with a heavy sigh, though he noticed Squall wasn't paying attention. His son had a glare in his eyes and Laguna followed that glare towards a metallic looking puddle that was... _crawling_ across the station platform, suddenly it began to form a bipedal object until it looked humanoid and was walking towards Squall and Laguna, firing parts of itself into the crowd, killing innocents before returning to the main body. Laguna opened the briefcase to reveal a machine gun, which he picked up and began firing at the silver creature, the bullets whizzed through it harmlessly and indented themselves in the side of the train.

The man in the suit appeared between Squall and Laguna, the girl stood beside him.

"That's not going to work, run!" He commanded

Without thinking, Laguna turned and headed for the exit but Squall remained steadfast.

"Who are you?" Squall demanded,

"There will be time for that when you're not being attacked by a silver metallic creature, now move!" The man demand, and Squall in spite of his better judgment turned and ran, the man and girl close behind him.

Martha stopped when the Doctor did, watching him as he used his Sonic Screwdriver to seal the exit to the train station, it seemed that no matter where they went trouble found them. The Doctor couldn't even take her on a shopping trip without a silver monster attacking them.

"There, that should hold it for a little while," The Doctor stated

"Now who are you?" Demanded the young man with the scar across his face, but before either of them could answer Martha noticed the silver puddle seeping from under the door.

"Doctor... look," She whispered,

The Doctor looked down and saw what Martha had seen, the two glanced at each other.

"Let's go, now!" The Doctor's voice was full of authority

The Doctor and Martha dashed past two men, one large and round the other tall and lean, and a girl in a bright yellow dress. The two men they'd just met right behind them.

"Selphie!" Said the man with the scar, "Move, now!"

After what seemed like forever, the group finally stopped running. The Doctor did a head count, there was seven of them. The two men from the train station, the two men and the girl from outside the station and Martha and himself, they were back near the TARDIS, in a built but unfurnished shop.

"What was that thing?" Asked Martha, when she got blank faces... and a stern look from the guy with the scar, she decided the question would be better aimed at The Doctor, unfortunately he didn't get a chance to answer that.

"Never mind that for now," Said the scar guy, "who are you two?"

"I'm the Doctor and this is Martha," The Doctor said cheerfully, "Hello! And you are?"

"I'm Laguna Loire," Said the man with the long hair

"Laguna..." Said the man with the scar

"And this is Kiros, Ward..." He point at the skinny and large men respectively

"Laguna..." repeated the man with the scar

"and my son Squall and his friend Selphie." He pointed at the guy with the scar and the girl in the yellow dress.

"DAD!" Shouted Squall, that got Laguna's attention "You don't know who these people are and they showed up right when that creature did, now they know who you are!"

"Oh! Don't mind us, we're just sort of... passing by," The Doctor interjected cheerfully,

"And you decided to save the President of Esthar from a monster attack?" Asked Selphie, a huge grin beaming across her face, "That is sooooo cool!"

The Doctor tilted his head smugly

"Yeah, I am quiet cool, aren't I?" He said with fake modest,

"_Don't_ encourage him," laughed Martha, "he's got a big enough ego as it is!"

Suddenly, the Doctor became all business again.

"That thing, what was it?" He asked deadly serious, he then turned to Squall and Laguna, "And why was it after you?"

Laguna looked at Squall, who returned the glance, now that Squall had mentioned it... could they really trust these strangers?

To Be Continued...

Doctor Who and all it's related characters are copyright the BBC, Final Fantasy and all it's related characters are Copyright Square Enix. This is a fan based story made without profit.


	2. Mysteries at DrawTech

Part 2: Mysteries At DrawTech.

"That thing, what was it? Why was it after you?" The Doctor asked, his voice soft but stern Laguna shrugged unsure and looked at his son, who shook his head.

"I d-don't really know," Laguna replied uneasy, "Some of my government agents were investigating a large scientific research company called Drawtech."

"Why, what's Drawtech?" Asked Martha bewildered, prompting shocked looks from everyone in the room apart from the Doctor.

"You're joking right?" Asked Squall, The Doctor and Martha shook their heads slowly,

"Drawtech came up with original device used to draw magic! You know you place your hand on a magic well and it gives you the knowledge to cast a certain spell, good for one time only!" Selphie spoke like a true salesperson.

"I don't believe in magic," Replied the Doctor, "_But_ if I did, what's to stop people from just remembering the incantations?"

"Guardian Forces," Replied Kiros, "Guardian Forces are creatures that live in our minds and in exchange the lend us our strength, Drawtech was the company that discovered this could be mimicked on a smaller scale, leading to magic spells. How can you not know this?"

"We're, not exactly from around here." The Doctor replied, "So the part of the mind these Guardian Forces make their home in is the part were you store your memories... meaning with this "Draw" technology the incantation is stored in your memory but leaves as soon as you "summon"it and you instantly forget, keeping Drawtech in business. That's brilliant!" The Doctor corrected himself, "I mean that's terrible... but... brilliant!"

Martha smirked,

"Thought you didn't believe in magic." She teased the Doctor

"_Any_way, why were your agents investigating Drawtech?" The Doctor decided to not so subtly revert the subject back to it's origin,

"Rumor has it they were experimenting in a new type of nano-technology that can break down metals and recreate them as new nanites. Effectively creating a machine that can repair itself." Kiros continued, "Unfortunately there had been several reports that the technology was still unrefined and..."

"The nanites were converting anything they could find... including people?" The Doctor interrupted guessing the end, the group minus Martha nodded.

"Right, I'm going to check out this Drawtech place," The Doctor shoved his hands in his coat pockets and began to walk away,

"Not so fast," Squall said, "I still don't trust you, Selphie go with them. I'm going to stay with President Lo... I mean, my dad in case he gets attacked again, gonna call the others too, see if they're back from their missions yet. This is bigger then we thought. We're going to need help."

The Doctor sighed and looked at the sunny girl who had a huge beaming grin on her face, she certainly didn't seem like someone who would be able to deal with them even if they did start trouble, which the Doctor never did... it wasn't his fault trouble followed him around. Still he wouldn't mind the extra company and since she was ordered to follow him, he could keep an eye on her to make sure she doesn't cause any trouble or (more likely, he thought) she didn't get in to any trouble.

"Oh, alright then," The Doctor said smiling, "Allons-y!"

The Doctor quickly realized it was a good thing he'd been given a military escort (it was still hard for him to get his head around the fact a girl with such a ... sunny disposition was _military for hire_), as he and Martha had no idea where the Drawtech building was.

"Selphie," Asked Martha, "If Drawtech are... well, magic specialists why are they researching nano-technology?"

Selphie shrugged lightly as they approached the main Drawtech building.

"I dunno," shrugged Selphie, "They make all sorts now, from children's toys to weapons. I've heard they've even started creating artificial !"

"I'm guessing they have their own security force too," The Doctor asked Selphie, and she nodded in reply.

"A single company building an army..." The Doctor added absently as thee ascended the stairs towards the front door, two guards stood in the way.

"I'm sorry, the main building isn't open to the public at this current moment in time." One of the guards ordered, tensing a little as The Doctor reached into his coat pocket.

"John Smith, Business Trading Standards" The Doctor said hopefully, "Just a quick sweep of the premises, it's been authorized as you can see."

The Doctor began shifting the small leather wallet between the two guards so they could get a decent look at it and, although suspicious they let the three past. Once inside Martha turned to The Doctor.

"How did you know they had Business Trading Standards on this planet?" She asked in surprise, the Doctor grinned.

"I didn't." He admitted casually before adding, "Good thing that worked, eh? _Now_, let's see if we can find the R&D Department!"

As the Doctor began to talk to the secretary Selphie turned to Martha.

"So... you guys are with Trading Standards?" She asked bewildered, Martha laughed a little and shook her head.

"No, that's just what the Doctor does," She explains, "He uses that psychic paper stuff to get us in places, I don't know how it works."

"You said 'this planet'," Selphie continued cautiously, "What did you mean, are you guys like... aliens?"

Martha was about to say no, but then she realized that since she was on a different planet that technically she was an alien and the Doctor definitely was.

"I guess so," Martha replied somewhat nervously

"BOOYAKA!" Exclaimed Selphie suddenly, "That is _so_ cool! And you and the Doctor, are you two, you know... together?"

"No!" Martha replied a little too quickly, "No we're just... friends"

Selphie giggled,

"Oh, so you like him?" The cheery girl replied, "Don't worry, my lips are sealed!" then pretended to zip her lips shut. Martha embarrassed at her own transparency, laughed as the Doctor walked back to them.

"Research and Development, this way!" He told them, pointing down the hallway then turning and marching off in the direction he'd previously gestured too.

Squall was worried, maybe it hadn't been a good idea to send Selphie off alone with those two strangers, emphasis on strange. He knew she could handle herself and neither of them had looked like they could put up a fight but splitting up? What had he been thinking? Especially since he hadn't been able to contact Zell or the others.

"Selphie can handle herself, son." Laguna said as he raised his feet and placed them on his desk, "besides we can't let the President of Drawtech know we're investigating him, right? So like, we'll just say you're here visiting family!"

Once again before Squall could speak their was a knock at the door and after Laguna summoned them in, a self-important looking man burst in and bowed to Laguna.

"Mister President," the red faced man said, forcing a calm tone. He had a look of clear disdain for Laguna on his face.

"Mister Herred, please sit down." Laguna said as he noticed Herred eye Squall cautiously,

"With respect sir, I'd rather stand. I've a company to get back to running."

"And I've got a country to run," Laguna retorted calmly, "so, sit. Do you want a soda or anything?"

"What's this about, _sir?_" Herred said getting more and more irritated by the moment.

"You're company is creating a new kind of nano-technology right?"

"Yes."

"I'd like to see the results if at all possible."

"Well unfortunately sir, it's not quite ready for public display we've had some budget cuts in that department but believe me... you'll be seeing exactly what my technology can do very soon. Now if you'll excuse me, sir. I've got an appointment with one of my scientists."

"A Doctor?" Asked Squall to gauge his reaction,

"Most of them usually are." Countered Herred "Good day, sir." As Herred turned to leave, Laguna glared. The man was hiding something, he was sure of it.

"Son, I want you to follow him."

Squall's head span to look at his father, his eyes showing shock on his otherwise expressionless face.

"But Laguna..."

"I'm you're client, Commander Leonheart. I'm giving you an order."

Squall instantly scowled, he knew he shouldn't have come on this mission but with Irvine and Zell on a mission in Galbadia and Quistis overseeing the orphanage reconstruction project, there was only himself and Selphie that he trusted with a mission this important.

_That's a lie,_ He told himself, _Xu could have handled this easy, you just wanted to see Laguna. Why? You knew you'd be working as his client and that you'd have to follow his orders. Unless he tries to send you to your room._

"Relax son," Laguna said, his expression softing, "I've got these two watching my back and I still remember how to use my machine gun."

"..." Said Ward

"And what's _that_ supposed to mean?"

The Doctor had told Selphie and Martha to keep an eye out for him while he 'fixed' (or as Selphie had called it, 'operated') on an infopanel. What he'd discovered was that the nanotechnology project had been shelved up until recently that the former head of the company, a Doctor Highwind had deemed the technology to unstable to be used safely and put it on hold indefinitely. What he found that was interesting was Dr. Herred, lead researcher of the nanotechnology project had recently been made head of the company when Doctor Highwind mysteriously disappeared.

"Well that's it then!" Martha said proudly, "We've solved it, Herred used his nano-wotsits to kill that Doctor Highwind out of revenge for shelving his project."

Selphie eagerly nodded her agreement.

"No, there's more to it then that..." The Doctor replied absently, "If he was just after revenge, it would have been over before we arrived, but for some reason he's targeted your friend's father, the President of Esthar. That wouldn't get him promoted, what's he up too?"

"Maybe he's planning on taking over the world!" Selphie exclaimed

"Maybe..." The Doctor half agreed, then his voice suddenly became chipper, "Not going to figure it out standing around here. Doctor Steon was promoted to head of R&R when Herred became boss, let's go meet her!"

The three glanced briefly at the picture of a young woman, black hair with glasses and pale skin, a stern and professional air about her, before moving to find the woman.

"So why are we going to see this Doctor Steon?" Asked Selphie, "If we think it's Herred, shouldn't we go after him and clobber him?"

"Direct," The Doctor replied looking down at the short brunette, "Not very subtle, but direct. I... I think we should run now."

"Why?" The girls asked together, The Doctor simply pointed down the hall in response.

"MOVE!"

Walking towards them was a silver, featureless figure, that shimmered as it crossed under the bright lights of the long corridor, The Doctor turned on his heel and pushed Selphie and Martha to do the same, as the metallic monster broke out into a run of it's own.

The corridor was a blur as The Doctor, Martha and Selphie ran for their lives, Martha making the mistake of looking back, as she did she saw the 'creature', walk into and then _through_ a trolly Selphie had pushed in the way of it, What was left of the trolly, the edges and the wheel collapsed to the floor and Martha thought she saw the figure gain toes.

"In here!" The Doctor cried, and slid into a door on the right hand side of the hall. Leading them straight into a closet.

"Oh no, we're trapped!" Cried Selphie

"Let me guess," Martha said dryly, "You meant to do that?"

"Well..." The Doctor started and trailed off, still looking around the small room. "Not so much, no."

The Doctor had gotten them cornered, he looked around frantically, no vents, no secret doors no other way out. Selphie for a minute thought they might have lead her in her on purpose, to get rid of her but one look at the face of panicked anger on her alien companion's face instantly dismissed that.

Suddenly there was a bang on the door. THUD.

THUD...

The trio froze up.

THUD...

And then nothing. For awhile no one moved, waiting to see if the Shimmering Man would continue his pounding. Eventually Selphie let out a breath she hadn't been aware she was holding in.

"Doesn't make any sense..." The Doctor spoke absently, "If that creature was created by nanites; nanites that can convert raw material and reassemble it as more nanites then why not just convert the door. Why not just come after us? Unless..."

"What, Doctor?" Asked Martha,

"Unless... _no_, YES!" The Doctor continued, voice becoming more excited, "Of course!"

"Someone's controlling it," Selphie piped up, suddenly catching on "And whoever's controlling it didn't want any more people going missing. It'd be too suspicious!"

"They wanted to scare us off the trail!" Martha added

The Doctor smiled proudly,

"Exactly what I was going to say," He told the girls, "Come on, we best go see Steon."

The lights were dimmed in Steon's lab and the woman had her back to the door. She didn't turn, didn't even acknowledge anyone's entrance which in the Doctor's experience probably meant something had happened to her, something she wanted to do her best to forget.

"Doctor Steon?" He asked carefully, taking a step forward.

"Yes..." A withered voice came back

"I'm The Doctor, these are my friends, Martha and Selphie. Can we ask you a couple of questions."

"Very well but do make it quick, I haven't the energy for..." The woman sighed heavily, as if talking tired her, "well very much of anything, anymore. I'm not as young as I used to be."

Steon turned to face the trio, moving into the light from the open door ever so slightly.

"Oh my god..." Whispered Martha

"Sudden and rapid aging caused by massive energy burn out." The Doctor explained darkly.

The woman before them was Doctor Steon but she was not the young scientist they had seen on the infopanel, her smooth black hair was now a tattered gray, her frame was practically skeletal, large dark bags hung under her tired eyes and Selphie recoiled as the woman gave a scowl, causing her lips to turn white.

"Tell me how this happened to you..."

To Be Continued.


	3. The Shimmering Man

"Tell me how this happened to you." The Doctor said softly.

The Shimmering Man

"I'm sure you've heard the rumors... that we've been experimenting in creating an artificial G.F" The formerly beautiful scientist started.

In truth The Doctor had only just heard about it that very day, due to Selphie, an energetic teenage girl he'd met but he nodded anyway.

"Well they're true." Steon continued, "You see, G.F's are powerful but rare and they also come with a major flaw when you use their strength."

"The memory loss." Martha interjected, the withered woman frowned but nodded. Clearly she didn't appreciate interruptions.

"We thought that if we could create our own G.F... in essence create life, we'd be able to control which part of the mind it makes it's home in not to mention mass producing Guardian Forces would greatly improve our military's defensive capabilities. We could make them safer, stronger!"

The Doctor glared at the aged woman, silent fury in his eyes but he remained quiet, Martha listened with intent to the story, but Selphie although paying attention couldn't keep herself from wandering around the room. The petite brunette trailed her hand along a desk as the scientist continued.

"The experiments were a trial..." Steon paused for breath, wincing in pain, "but eventually we created a creature that could exist as a real G.F does, both corporeally and symbiotically within a human mind. So we decided to test it, and I volunteered to house it... we didn't expect it to be so powerful, it burned up my body like kindling. I barely extracted it from myself before it killed me."

"Oh god..." Whispered Martha, covering her mouth, "Doctor?"

The Doctor shook his head sadly,

"I'm sorry but I can't help you." He said, "What you've done to yourself, what's happened to your body; it can't be reversed. The state of decay is too far advanced."

Martha knew what was coming next, she'd seen that look in his eyes before, Selphie had disappeared from view briefly, vanishing around the corner of the lab but The Doctor hadn't noticed, he knew what was happening to Steon even if she didn't.

"I'm sorry, I am _so so_ sorry but you don't have long left."

"How long?" The woman asked.

"I can't be sure..."

"How _long?_" Her voice raised in anger, but the strength left it all too suddenly.

"...A week, at most."

The room fell silent, Selphie came wandering back into view, it was obvious she'd heard everything from the expression on her face. The group of four stood there completely silent. The Doctor needed to ask her questions but was no longer sure where to start, Martha just wanted to help the poor woman and Selphie couldn't believe how Steon was taking the news, she'd gone back to her desk, typing away. Just like that they'd been dismissed as if they were never there to begin with.

"Doctor Steon..." Martha began.

"Leave." The woman replied, "I have much work to do, and precious little time to do it in, even less then I initially believed."

"Shouldn't you, I dunno... go home and rest or something?" Selphie piped in

"What good would it do? No, best I stay here and make a contribution with my final hours."

"Before we go..." The Doctor began, "What do you know about the Nanotechnology project?"

Sighing, Steon turned to face them once more.

"Herred was furious when Highwind shut down the project. 'Too unstable' He'd said, so when Highwind went missing and Herred took his position, we all thought is was suspicious." The Doctor nodded thoughtfully, remaining silent.

"But Herred didn't reopen the project, he said..."

Suddenly the wall burst inwards and the metallic figure stepped through. It had changed drastically in the short time since it had chased The Doctor and his companions down the hallway. It's face now had features. A nose, a mouth, and hollow lifeless eyes. It moved forward grabbing the withered scientist and forming shackles from it's hands around her wrists, dragged her back the way it came. Selphie reached for her Nunchaku, but the Doctor placed his hand in front of her.

"Don't!" He told her sternly, "You wouldn't be able to hit it, you're more likely to hurt Steon!"

He then turned his attention to the increasingly lifelike technological creation.

"And whoever's controlling this, I bet you can hear me. So I'm asking you now, let her go." The Doctor's voice became grim, "Let her go, or I _will_ stop you. Whatever it is you want, you don't have to get it this way, you don't. Just let her go."

For a moment everything was still, then the silver creature, smashed the ceiling directly above causing it to partially collapse and cover it's escape.

"We've got to get after it!" Selphie insisted.

"By the time we get round it'll be long gone." The Doctor told her matter-of-factly, "I don't believe it showed up to stop us from finding out who's behind it. I bet it wanted Steon for another reason." He rushed over to her computer and sat down, pulling out his sonic screwdriver.

"There must be something on here." His voice was absent, talking as if to distract himself from his inability to save Doctor Steon.

Glancing over the files, the Time Lord found a file marked "Nanotech Research" and opened it, his eyes taking in every detail.

"I think I found out what Steon was going to tell us." He said to his companions "Herred didn't reopen his research because it was too costly to correct the conversion technology."

"Wait... why would Steon have _Herred's_ files on her private computer?" Martha asked, The Doctor and Selphie looked to her, confused.

"I'm no expert or anything but why would someone working on a completely different project keep tabs on someone else's work. Especially after the work has been shelved?"

The Doctor's eyes widen and he stood sharply, knocking the chair over as he did.

"What is it?" Asked Martha

"We've got to find the President!"

The Time Lord took off, dashing out of the office, with Selphie and Martha quick on his heels. The two girls cast each other questioning glances.

It had taken some convincing, but he'd managed to get persuade Laguna... persuade his _father _to let him follow Herred. For Squall so many things didn't add up; the two strangers at the train station, the man of metal, the mysterious disappearances involving Drawtech... Squall had been in enough battles to know that his gut instinct was often right, and his instinct was telling him that Herred was involved, hell he'd practically threatened The President of Esthar in his own office. Sighing the young man stopped and leant against a wall, rubbing his brow in frustration... perhaps he was just too close to the case, as much as it still was uncomfortable for him he was beginning to see Laguna for what he was – his dad, and the way that the so called 'scientist' had spoken to him, it had bothered him greatly.

Continuing on, Squall stopped when he came to a corner, glancing around. There was Herred in all his self righteous glory, the man was currently telling off a child whom, presumably had bumped into him, Squall was pretty sure he heard the words "some respect" "lucky I'm in a hurry".

_What an idiot..._ Squall thought angrily, before long Herred was on the move again, so Squall started following him.

A gleam caught the young soldier's eye, like light reflecting off a metallic surface and it was moving too, shimmering as it came closer. Instantly the SeeD reached for his gunblade.

"Herred! Watch out!" Leonheart called out, causing the scientist to turn to face him. Instead of seeing Squall however, he saw the artificial body reach out for him and pull him towards it.

Struggling Herred screamed a wordless jabber, trying his hardest to escape it's grip.

The blue blade of Squall's custom designed gunblade, cut through the the shimmering man... but did not come out the other side, the only thing that remained was the trigger and the part of the blade with the decorative wings on them. Squall looked at where his blade had been in confusion, briefly thinking that Rinoa was going to kill him for destroying the blade she'd had made for him, but his thoughts instantly focused on the matter of hand. Disgarding the now useless trigger, Squall put his fingers to his forehead and began concentrating.

A flurry of magical attacks fame from Squall, first, ice, then lightning, fire. More Ice, a kick to the frozen tech, shattered it, but it simply reassembled. The teenage warrior took a step back picking up a discarded pipe and using it as a means of defense. The robotic figures hand reached out and Squall tried to block with the pipe, only for the long pipe to become too shorter pipes. Growling in frustration, Squall got some distance between him and the cybernetic creature. He was going to need time to summon this next attack.

A turret of fire appeared and a large demon like figure formed, as Squall took a step back. The figure had horns, a deep scorched brown skin and a flaming red mane. It snarled and roared at the deadly experiment before leaping into the air.

Silently Squall urged Ifrit to hurry, but the demon paid him no heed and Squall cursed the creature for it's delay, glancing at what was left of Herred's body further back, but the Lion showed no fear.

_At least I can end it here, so no one else dies._

Ifrit rained hellfire down from above, but before the attack could connect, the silver body slinked into a liquid form and vanished away into a crack. Ifrit snorted in digust and vanished back to it's resting place.

The stoic young man flinched and turned away in time to see his father, Selphie and the others come rushing up to him.

"You're too late." Squall said grimly, "I couldn't stop it."

Selphie gasped and turned away, Martha looked like she was about to throw up, even as a med student with everything she'd seen... she looked to the Doctor, as if he could somehow make this right, instead she saw a familiar look in his eyes. Whoever was controlling the creature had just made their biggest mistake.

"Aw jeez..." Said Laguna, a harsh look in his soft eyes, "The guy was a jerk but... for Hyne's sake."

"This ends _now_." The Doctor stated firmly, "And I know how to end it. Come on, we're going to meet the puppet master."

Doctor Steon didn't turn to face them when they entered her office, instead she just sagged further into her chair, sighing with irratation.

"I would have liked to have my new body digest Herred whole, but I wasn't expecting the boy to have a G.F"

The Doctor stepped closer, raising his hand. Squall who had been about to follow simply stopped, his military training kicking in, The Doctor seemed to be a leader, so Squall let him lead.

"You would think that creating a body made of nanites would only require the death of one person but the conversion process eats up half of the raw material you see. Herred wasn't wrong when he said his technology wasn't cost effective. He was hoping the company would make some breakthroughs over the next couple of years and go back to it. That's when I found it."

"But you're still just a Gaian, you can't transfer your mind into a body of steel. That sort of technology doesn't exist on this planet yet... besides I've seen what a cyberbody can do to the mind."

Steon laughed, a cold, brittle, mocking laugh and finally turned.

"You said I had a week, Doctor. But the truth is this body is going to expire in a matter of hours and I can't live in a dead mind."

The Doctor's eyes narrowed.

"You're not Steon..." He said "The artificial G.F... you were never destroyed, were you? You just hid. Using your hosts memories to pass yourself off as her."

"How astute, Doctor. Very good."

The old woman's body gobbled over to the rubble filled hole in the wall.

"Your kind created me! Prodded and poked me and then when I was too powerful, you tried to have me killed! Is that fair? I deserve to live!"

"So did Doctor Steon and Professor Herred! How they treated you, that doesn't make what you're doing right!" Cried Selphie

The G.F chuckled again and shook Steon's head.

"It doesn't matter, you can't stop me now."

From the cracks in the rubble behind her the shimmering man formed. It was apparently complete, from top to bottom it was essentially a made man. Steon closed her as, then spazzemed and collapsed, Martha's instinct to heal kicked in and she tried to run towards the woman but Laguna grabbed her and held her in place.

Then for the first time... the Shimmering Man spoke. It voice was horse, new and unused.

"This body can sustain me Doctor... I have what I want."

"You've killed innocent people, you've murdered them." The Doctor said, "I can't let you go."

The creature scoffed.

"How are you going to stop me, Doctor? You know you have no weapons that can harm me."

"True," The Doctor replied with a nod "But I have this. It's my sonic screwdriver. I also had a good look over the files on the nanotechnology that makes your new body. _Fascinating, really_. You see, I happened to read that amongst other things, that the signal that holds that body together is generate from a "control bot" for lack of a better term and that it sends the signal telling the body to be a chair... or a desk, or a person via a certain frequency."

The Doctor's voice became hard" A frequency I can use my Sonic Screwdriver to cancel out."

With a press of a button, the blue light at the top of the small cylinder lit and the _whirring_ sound activated.

"No Doctor please... don't!"

Suddenly, the metallic monster began vibrating. It tried talking again but instead it's jaw fell off and splashed to the ground in a puddle of lifeless metal. The body shook itself apart and melted, leaving a lifeless pool of silver on the floor.

"Is it dead?" Cautioned Martha,

"Without a willing mind to transfer itself into, the G.F had nowhere to go... it died along with the technology." The Doctor said as he picked up tiny silver dot and crushed it between his fingers. "Control bot's been destroyed... no way it can come back now."

"Doc...tor?" a raspy voice called out.

The group turned in surprise to see the withered Doctor Steon on the floor conscious. The Doctor walked over to her, glancing up when Laguna knelt down on her opposite side.

"I'm sorry..." She whispered, "It was so strong... and I was so weak."

He shushed her gently.

"Don't worry about this stuff," Laguna told her, "We can handle it, just... y'know rest or..."

The President finished his clumsy sentence in a whisper.

"rest or whatever... you can deal with it later."

Steon smiled.

"Thank yo..."

And then, she was gone.

To be concluded.

Author's Note: I apologize for the poor quality of this chapter when compared to others, no matter how hard I tried I couldn't get the scenes I could picture in my head to sound right in prose. Still, I did the best I could and I hope you all enjoy the result. Stay tuned for the Finales. Yep. As in more than one.

Coops.


	4. Epilogue 1: To Live

Epilogue 1: To Live.

Squall and The Doctor walked from the Drawtech main building, the remains of the nanotechnology safely sealed inside a container carried by the time traveling alien. The group remained silent for awhile, no one sure what to say. At least three people had died, possibly more and Drawtech was such a big company, it's collapse could mean economic disaster.

"So..." Kiros said calmly, "What happens to that thing?"

"I'm talking it with me," The Doctor replied calmly, "I can dispose of the technology safely, I'm leaving it to you to make sure the research notes are destroyed."

Squall turned to face the visitor a stern look in his eye, he seemed to be judging The Doctor, the mysterious stranger in a long coat, suit and completely out of place footwear.

Finally, he nodded.

"Understood." Squall said, he held his arm out so his fist was infront of but not touching his the place where his heart was and sharply brought his arm sliding horizontally to the right.

"Ah! The SeeD salute!" The Doctor exclaimed merrily, "So you're _that_ Squall! Commander Leonheart of Balamb Garden! 18 years old when you corrected a temporal anomaly and save the universe from total collapse. Nice work, couldn't of done better myself!"

Suddenly the Doctor corrected himself,

"Well... I wouldn't have used a weapon... or had to resort to letting time fold in on itself, or... y'know what? Never mind, I stand by my earlier statement."

Squall looked perplexed and raised his hand to his forehead in frustration.

_This guy talks as much as my dad..._

"Doctor?" Asked Martha,

"Remember the sorceress I told you about? Meet the man who lead the attack that stopped her.

And President Laguna Loire of course, I can't believe I never made the connection."

The Doctor shook the president's hand eagerly, turning to Kiros and Ward.

"You two stand by him eh? He's gonna need you awhile longer."

"No doubt," replied Kiros with a smirk, much to the President's dismay, Ward chuckled silently.

"Well, we need to be off."

"Wait, where's Selphie?" Martha queeried

"I think she's still inside," Laguna stated, "She seemed pretty upset."

"I'll go see her." Squall said "Goodbye Doctor, Martha."

"Goodbye Squall Leonheart!" The Doctor said with an honored smile.

"Bye!" Added Martha, waving fondly, the excitement in her voice was unmistakable.

"Selphie?" Called Squall,

"Oh, hi Squall." He'd found the young woman stood outside Doctor Steon's office, staring at the door as if mesmerized. When he'd called to her, she turned to face him with a cheery grin plastered on her face, but Squall saw right through it, the slight redness around her eyes showed she was on the verge of tears.

"Wanna talk?" Squall asked, trying his best to sound casual and not to... emotional.

The brunette nodded.

"Yeah I..." She sniffed, "It's just when Doctor Steon was dying... she she sounded so... scared but happy that she was free from the G.F. She might have created the monster but she shouldn't have died you know? It just... it reminded me off home too much."

Squall instantly knew what this was about. Tribia Garden.

During the Sorceress War an attack had been launched against Squall's Garden and Selphie's original Garden Trabia. Thanks to the effort of Selphie and her team Balamb had been saved but Tribal had already been hit when they learned of the attacks. Later when they'd had chance to visit, Squall saw something he'd never seen. He saw Selphie cry, she'd try to hide it... she'd try to be brave for the smaller students but he'd accidentally found her talking to a headstone...the tone of voice was identical.

Squall gave an understanding sigh.

"You're right," He said to her, "But that's why SeeD is still around, thanks to us less people died than they would have, thanks to us the Nanite G.F was stopped and thanks to us Trabia has been given the chance to rebuild, stronger than before and to honor those it lost. Giving up, letting death way us down... that's when we really dishonor the friends... and family that we've lost."

Selphie blinked away the tears forming in her eyes and grinned.

"Wow that was _really_ profound, guess you're not just a pretty face!"

Blushing a little Squall turned away and shrugged.

"Whatever." He said uneasily.

Selphie stood on her toes and kissed his cheek.

"Thanks Squall." She said leaning against him.

"W-what are you?" The young leader started to protest.

"It was just to say thanks Squall, jeez. You'd think you were betraying Rinny!"

"I'd never do that."

"Neither would I!"

Squall sighed in frustration.

"Whatever." He said.

"Too bad we never got to say goodbye to Selphie," Martha said

"She'll be fine, especially since she's got Squall Leonheart to lean on when things get rough!" The Doctor replied as he worked the controls of the TARDIS.

"What you mean those two are together?" Asked Martha in shock"

"No! Well not yet, well... I don't think yet." The Time Lord paused. "Maybe. I think he's still with Rinoa Heartilly at the moment, but I heard rumor they ended – on good terms I might add, and he ended up married to a young woman who'd eventually go by the name Selphie Leonheart. Or maybe that's what he named his daughter. Not sure. Anyway how about we try for that little holiday again... there's this place I've been meaning to visit, funny little planet called Spira..."

The end of Ending One.

Well this is the first ending I have another ending coming soon and both are "official" endings to the story. But well... I won't spoil it, so you can see why I wrote two when I post the next ending.

As for the bit at the end, I really like the idea of Squall and Selphie pairing up as they're such a potrait in contrasts but reflect each other in a way that can only benefit the other. Squall will keep the hyperactive girl grounded and Selphie will bring the stoic leader out of his shell a little. However I didn't want to dishonor the 'official' couple, so I made it so the Doctor couldn't quiet remember who "Selphie Leonheart" was. Hope you've enjoyed the ride, see you next ending!


	5. Epilogue 2: To The Future We Will Go

Epilogue 2: To The Future We Will Go

Squall and The Doctor walked from the Drawtech main building, the remains of the nanotechnology safely sealed inside a container carried by the time traveling alien. The group remained silent for awhile, no one sure what to say. At least three people had died, possibly more and Drawtech was such a big company, it's collapse could mean economic disaster.

"So..." Kiros said calmly, "What happens to that thing?"

"I'm talking it with me," The Doctor replied calmly, "I can dispose of the technology safely, I'm leaving it to you to make sure the research notes are destroyed."

Squall turned to face the visitor a stern look in his eye, he seemed to be judging The Doctor, the mysterious stranger in a long coat, suit and completely out of place footwear.

Finally, he nodded.

"Understood." Squall said, he held his arm out so his fist was in front of but not touching the place where his heart was and sharply brought his arm sliding horizontally to the right.

"Ah! The SeeD salute!" The Doctor exclaimed merrily, "So you're _that_ Squall! Commander Leonheart of Balamb Garden! 18 years old when you corrected a temporal anomaly and save the universe from total collapse. Nice work, couldn't of done better myself!"

Suddenly the Doctor corrected himself,

"Well... I wouldn't have used a weapon... or had to resort to letting time fold in on itself, or... y'know what? Never mind, I stand by my earlier statement."

Squall looked perplexed and raised his hand to his forehead in frustration.

_This guy talks as much as my dad..._

"Doctor?" Asked Martha,

"Remember the sorceress I told you about? Meet the man who lead the attack that stopped her.

And President Laguna Loire of course, I can't believe I never made the connection."

The Doctor shook the president's hand eagerly, turning to Kiros and Ward.

"You two stand by him eh? He's gonna need you awhile longer."

"No doubt," replied Kiros with a smirk, much to the President's dismay, Ward chuckled silently.

"Well, we need to be off."

"Wait, where's Selphie?" Martha queried

"I think she's still inside," Laguna stated, "She seemed pretty upset."

"I'll go see her." Squall said "Goodbye Doctor, Martha."

"Goodbye Squall Leonheart!" The Doctor said with an honored smile.

"Bye!" Added Martha, waving fondly, the excitement in her voice was unmistakable.

"Wait!" called a voice, "Wait, wait, wait, wait, wait, wait _wait_!"

A petite girl in a bright yellow dress came bounding towards them, running at full speed towards the group.

"Come to say goodbye Selphie Tilmitt?" The Doctor beamed, seeing the look of relief on Martha's face. She was clearly glad her new friend had come to see her off.

"Yeah, kinda." She said, "I want to come with you."

"Selphie, are you serious?" Squall exclaimed in bewilderment, "You can't just up and leave, you have duties, you're a SeeD!"

"And I'm tired of fighting, Squall. I'm tired of using weapons and being seen as a soldier. I need some time away and I am entitled to some leave."

"I think I know what you mean, Selphie." Laguna spoke up, "I mean when I met Raine, I didn't want to fight anymore either, I was worried that my fighting would bring disaster down or her or something. But when I stopped fighting, they came and took Ellie. Are you sure this is what you want?"

"It's not going to be for forever!" Selphie exclaimed, "I just... I need some time away, please Squall."

The stern look of hurt and betrayal left Squall's face and he sighed warmly, "Alright. SeeD Officer Tilmitt your request for a leave of absence has been granted."

He then added awkwardly,

"Be safe."

Selphie saluted, then hugged the much taller young man.

"I will, thanks Commander."

There was a cough from behind her and Selphie turned to see the Doctor looking rather irratated, his arms folded.

"Who said I'd let you come along, hm?" He asked with irratiation

"But I just...!" The gaian girl started to protest,

"Now hold on Doctor!" Squall at the same time.

The Doctor's stern face became a grin and he shrug gestured.

"Oh yeah, right that would be me." Smirked The Doctor, "You're more than welcome."

"Booyaka!" Exclaimed Selphie, punching the air with her fist, Martha giggled, but seemed somewhat disappointed at the same time, as if she was putting on a brave face.

"We should get going." Martha said, "Big old universe isn't going to save itself."

"Hold on, I should probably turn in my G.F." Selphie said.

Squall held his hand up.

"Keep it, you've not retired you're just on leave, you're still a Seed so that G.F. stays with you, magic as well."

Selphie bit her lip shyly.

"Thanks Squall."

The Doctor, Martha and Selphie turned to walk away, Selphie walking backwards and waving.

"Bye Squall, Bye everyone! I'll see you soon!"

She stumbled then turned around and chased after The Doctor and Martha, catching up and linking arms with the medical student.

"You sure you don't mind me coming?" She asked, Martha shook her head.

"No, it was just a bit of a shock," Martha replied, "Besides this way at least I'll have someone to talk to when he goes running off by himself!"

"Right you are, Martha Jones!" The Doctor said as he approached the familiar blue box that he called home. He unlocked the door and walked inside peering over his shoulder at his newest companion.

"Why are we going in here...?" Selphie asked as she stepped inside the tiny wooden box... only to find out it wasn't so tiny on the inside, for once the hyperactive girl was speechless.

"This is The T.A.R.D.I.S. That's..."

"Time and Relative Dimensions In Space!" Martha interjected, The Doctor looked momentarily annoyed.

"Bigger on the inside?" Selphie managed.

"Yep!" was the cheerful reply.

"SO. COOL!"

Afterword

Okay so, that's it. Story official done and dusted no more endings. Please tell me which you prefer. One was designed to fit in with the Doctor Who series cannon – which I think I mentioned before. The other was designed to set up a whole new series off adventures with Selphie as an on-again-off-again companion to the Tenth and Eleventh Doctors. If anyone wishes to write a sequel story to "Fantasy" either ending I would be honored to see them, but let me know first okay?

Speaking of sequels I'm open to suggestions regarding my first ending's cliffhanger with The Doctor mentioning Spira if anyone has a story they'd like to see don't hesitate to let me know or even a story featuring Selphie as a companion to either Ten or Eleven. This has been such an amazing story to write and I'd like to thank my readers for both the positive and negative comments I've received for without them, I'd never grow as an author.

Thanks to you all,

Coops.


End file.
